A Cup of Tea With Terrie Farley Moran Author Of The Read Em' and Eat Series!

Today Author (As well as my friend) Terrie Farley Moran stops by for tea and  to share a bit about her up coming third in series Read To Death! 

Thank you Terrie for joining us here today! 

KMOT: Where do you get the inspiration for your characters in the Read Em' and Eat Series?

TFM:When I wrote my first (still unpublished) novel, Driven to Death, the lead characters were two fifty-something women from New York who had resettled in Florida. Although their personalities are very different from the ladies in Driven to Death, Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield reflect my vision of what Annie and Jeanie might have been like if they had moved to Florida in their twenties. And I think Aunt Ophie shares a bit of Jeanie’s personality.

The Agatha Award winning first Read ’Em and Eat novel, Well Read, Then Dead introduced a complete set of new and fresh characters. Generally, characters talk to me in my head for a long time before I commit them to paper. I never model any characters after people I know, although I sometimes name characters after a friend. In Caught Read-Handed and Read to Death, the veterinarian is called Cynthia Mays, which is the maiden name of my best friend. I used her name with her permission and the only similarities are that both of them are attractive African-American women who love animals. They have no personality traits in common.

KMOT: What motivates you to write? 

TFM:It’s not my nature to be motivated to write. I could cheerfully procrastinate forever and since I am an extremely slow writer, procrastination spells doom. So every morning I push myself to sit at the keyboard because I repeat William Faulkner’s famous quotation about inspiration: “I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes at nine every morning.”

KMOT: Do you write every day or just when the characters are screaming to get out? 

TFM :I write every day. I find if I stop for a fewdays it is extremely hard for me to jump back in to the project. I can howeverswitch back and forth from one project to another. I don’t lose the mojo aslong as I am working, and that includes research and editing both of which Ienjoy far more than actual writing. It also includes blog posts, interviewslike this and giveaways and promotions. As long as I am moving forward with mywork, I feel creative, which makes me happy.

KMOT: When you are writing what sustains you, Coffee, Tea or other?

TFM:Tea. Green, black or white. Occasionally flavored. Sometimes decaffeinated. Often iced. I also drink a lot of water. I do drink coffee but it isn’t my go-to drink.

KMOT: What do you want readers to know most about your work?

TFM:I want readers to know that my goal is to produce books and stories that entertain. When a reader finishes reading, I hope she will sigh and think, “Oh that was a delightful story. I really enjoyed meeting those people.” If that happens, I have done my job. And if it hasn’t happened for a particular reader, I don’t mind hearing constructive criticism.

 After Well Read, Then Dead was released a number of readers wanted to know more about Sassy and Bridgy’s early days in Fort Myers Beach, so I decided to write a story about their first day and the dead guy who nearly ruined it. So I’d like to include a free link to the Agatha Award nominated short story, “A Killing at the Beausoleil.”

http://www.malicedomestic.org/PDF/Moran_Beausoleil.pdf

Also,I want to thank Karen for contributing her excellent recipes to Caught Read-Handed and Read to Death.

Read to Death 

The national bestselling author of "Caught Read-Handed "revisits Fort Myers Beach, Florida, where the proprietors of a local bookstore cafe occasionally take a stab at solving murder... At their seaside Read Em and Eat bookstore cafe, Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield offer fresh scones, great books, and excellent detective work With their book club season wrapping up with "The Florida Life of Thomas Edison," Sassy and Bridgy decide to take their group on a day trip to the beautiful Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Hiring driver Oscar Frieland, who s known for his colorful stories and love of the cafe s Robert Frost fruit tartlets, the bibliophiles set off for a day of sunshine and history. After a lovely excursion, the club returns to the cafe for lunch and a book discussion, but the group falls silent after Oscar is found dead in his van. The sheriff s deputies have some questions of their own for the group, and if the ladies don t find some answers soon, the next book they read might be from a prison library."

Learn more about Terrie Farley Moran's books by visiting her website by clicking here. 

You can pre order your copy of Read To Death with free shipping from The Book Depository by clicking here. 
Or From Amazon.com by clicking here.

Thank you Terrie for joining us for tea today and it is entirely my pleasure and an honor to share my recipes in your books!
I really appreicate each and everyone of you who takes the time to stop by for a cup of tea here daily, I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com